


The Holmes Family

by OrnateDragon



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-14
Updated: 2016-09-14
Packaged: 2018-08-10 23:33:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7865767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrnateDragon/pseuds/OrnateDragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ruminations on the Holmes Family and their link to the Magical World.  This may turn into a longer work at some point.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Holmes Family

The Holmes family may be a Pureblood Wizarding family as far back as the eye can see, and as arrogant as the Malfoy family three times over, but they are decidedly not stupid. _(And, yes, that last part is obvious, but bear with me.)_ They realised early on that marrying only into the 'purest' families would eventually mean diminishing magical and intellectual capabilities – in short, Squibs and Idiots. Of course, since the Holmes's are of extraordinary intelligence, 'Idiot' _(and yes, it does require a capital letter, it's a name, a noun, to them, like Squib, or Muggle, or Wizard. It may even be a job title, like Doctor, or Prime Minister, but if it is nobody's telling.)_ merely means anyone of average intelligence, but the fear of degenerating into simply 'average' is enough for the Holmes Family to find a way around it.

Tied in with the need to keep the Holmes family producing amazing brains and abilities comes the adamant assurance that 'Family Is Everything'. Now, that's not to say the family members don't fight amongst themselves _(to the death occasionally and that's another story which I shall tell at a later date)_ , because that's a very dangerous thing to think about the Holmes family, that they hate each other and can be set at each others' throats by an outside agency.

Because, for all the infighting, between siblings, between cousins, between generations, and sometimes jumping generations, and the constant and occasionally handed-down family feuds that nobody outside the family knows of _(because the Holmes' are intensely private, and yes, that paranoid about Family Information being known to the Outside World!)_ there is no question that members of the Holmes Family would kill or die for each other, and have done so _(mainly more killing than dying, they're sometimes certifiably crazy but rarely suicidal)_ with alarming and increasing aptitude and regularity throughout the years. Thus it stands since Family Is Everything that whenever a Squib is deduced _(at about the age of two, when all Holmes children are tested for magical ability alongside other talents (precociousness is a Holmes family trait whatever the talent after all, never forget exactly who we are discussing here!))_ said child is slid neatly into a life in the Muggle World, and grows up into part of the mostly subtle network of Holmes  & Associates _(and also remember that Holmesian Squibs may not have magic, but they are still Holmes's and therefore intelligent and talented in other areas)_ which by 2016 has spanned the globe, has fingers in every private and public enterprise pie you can find and usually started those pies you don't know about or can find no trace of.

Naturally, the reverse is in place as well, any magical children from the Muggle World under the Holmes & Associates umbrella were taken into the Magical World as wards/adopted children to childless couples. Of course, the Holmes's being as involved as they were in all aspects of Wizarding and Muggle Society, magical orphans from the Muggle World, especially if they were intelligent as well, were taken also and generally blood adopted, using a Holmes-invented method which would keep the original material as well as adding the Holmesian talents. To the Holmes's, blood adoption merely highlighted the acceptance of the new child into the family, and the power and force that from that moment is guiding said child through life. _(It doesn't matter that blood adoption was labelled Dark and banned by the Ministry of Magic, have you ever tried telling a Holmes not to do something and had them listen?) _

 

Sadly, by 2016 the Holmes family has long been forgotten in the Magical World (at least under that specific name) although the strong genetic abilities, connections and magics still hold firm, and the Holmes power still thrums throughout the corridors of the Ministry and various society parlours.

**********

Because of the crossing of Magical and Muggle Worlds, the crossing of oceans, and the fertility of the Holmes's _(which they attribute (when they discuss it, which is never where anyone else can hear them and very seldom in audible words (facial and physical tics are indeed a language, one which the Holmes's probably invented and are incredibly fluent in)) to the not sticking to marrying Purebloods)_ , anybody you meet could be classed under the umbrella of Holmes & Associates.

In the current family, Mycroft and Sherlock appear to hate each other, yet on several occasions have taken out each others' opponents when the one targeted doesn't have an opportunity. Irene Adler, and James Moriarty, both highly intelligent and devious, also have the same love/hate relationship with the Holmes brothers. This is because Irene at least is part of that same network _(members are known, to the Family, as True Holmes's or Associates)_ which is so intertwined in the human race that no war or event known to man _(except natural disasters, and even then there's suspicion by some people that a Holmes & Associate is involved somehow!)_ does not have a Holmes or an Associate involved somewhere important. Moriarty is not, because his brand of insanity is one step too far for the Holmes's to engage with.

Some Associates even use the Holmes & Associates umbrella to get things done with the minimum of fuss and the maximum results (whichever side of the Law they lean). Indeed, speaking of Laws, the majority of the Laws in both Magical and Muggle society across the world were thought up, introduced, and implemented by a Holmes or Associate whether anybody knew it or not. If a Law is needed, it's generally because a Holmes has found a loophole, or a space which no Law covers (even if Laws are designed to overlap and cover all gaps), because it's always a Holmes – usually a true Holmes, it has to be said _(see: Sherlock, in the modern era)_ \- who can find the loopholes.

Anyway, back to the Holmes & Associates umbrella (and, this is indeed one of the reasons that Mycroft carries an umbrella – as a sign to others under that label that they are everywhere), and their tangled web, and the many and varied pies in which they have many and varied fingers. There is always at least one true Holmes in the British Government, and Associates in almost every department, alongside the ones in the Ministry of Magic. There are true Holmes's and Associates in the American Government, and in most Governments around the world. Never as figureheads though, the true Holmes's enjoy secrecy and subtlety far too much to be public personae, although, occasionally an Associate is the public figure and where that happens the true Holmes's tend not to interfere beyond the usual.

_(Ignore Sherlock and his self-publication, there’s one aberration in every generation. Viewed usually with resigned yet affectionate and amused bafflement, they are quietly protected while left to get on with it.)_

The British Secret Service, including both MI5 and MI6, is littered by true Holmes's as are the CIA, the KGB and the Chinese Secret Service amongst others, although the Armed Forces themselves tend not to attract true Holmes's. For all their brilliance with weaponry, both use and creation, the Holmes family is not generally fond of undertaking indiscriminate killing in person. Not that they disagree with the necessity of the Forces, they just prefer to be removed from the action somewhat, letting Associates hold the weapons the Holmes help aim. As for the police, as a rule true Holmes's consider themselves above such pedestrian pursuits, although naturally, they cultivate Associates throughout the ranks.

Indeed, if you have the time, the intelligence and the money (which few do, save the Holmes's) to unravel all the various Mafias and criminal gangs around the world, you will find a Holmes, usually stood behind the ruling general. That saying, that behind every successful man is the woman who put him there? Substitute Holmes & Associates for woman and you'll begin to understand the power of the family. Although, it has to be said loudly and clearly, they strictly deny any connection to Grindelwald, or to Voldemort, or any truly Dark Lords, and also any connection to megalomaniacs such as Hitler, Castro and others. They may be shady, occasionally criminal and decidedly dangerous, but they are not Dark. On the darker side of Grey, yes, but not Dark. Never Dark. They may engage in criminal activities, enjoy them even, but they draw the line at assisting in madness-inspired world domination. They have no need to make the world bow to their whims using violence, they already have the power and the ability, should they wish to use it.


End file.
